2011 annual report final - isdkandy.org annual report final.pdf · +csr : corporate social...
TRANSCRIPT
2011
Published by:Institute of Social DevelopmentNo 37, Bodhiyangana Mawatha,Kandy,Sri Lanka.20000Tel: +94-81-2217223/+94-81-3841273Fax: +94-81-2217223Email: [email protected]: www.isdkandy.org
Prepared & designed by:Kalani Ranasinghe,Institute of Social Development.
Printed bySanduni Offset Printers (Pvt) Ltd.4/1, Sarasavi Uyana Good Shed Road,Sarasavi Uyana.Tel/Fax: +94-81-2387777Email: [email protected]
Vision -
Mission -
Excluded communities and groups mainstream with dignity and equal rights.
Strengthen the marginalized plantation, rural communities and groups towards sustainable social changes based on democracy, equity, social justice, freedom and peace.
Abbreviations
+ ACTFORM : The Action Network for Migrant Workers
+ BftW : Bread for the World
+ CBO : Community Based Organization
+ CDF : Community Development Forums
+ CSR : Corporate Social Responsibility
+ DS : Divisional Secretariat
+ EPF : Employees’ Provident Fund
+ ILO : International Labour Organization
+ ISD : Institute of Social Development
+ ITD : International Tea Day
+ IWD : International Women's Day
+ LG : Local Government
+ NGF : Newton Gunasinghe Foundation
+ NGO : Non Governmental Organization
+ PC : Provincial Council
+ PS : Pradeshiya Sabha
+ PSSF : Plantation Sector Social Forum
+ RPC : Regional Plantation Company
+ TU : Trade Union
+ WWF : Working Women's Front
Contents
Organizational Profile - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 01
Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 01
Governance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 01
Resources and Cooperation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 02
Board of Members - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 02
Empowering Tea Plantation Community
(i) Empowering Tea Plantation Community on Good Governance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03
(ii) Empowering Women’s Groups by linking with Divisional Secretariat - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03
(iii) Capacitating Women to take part in Local Governance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 04
(iv) Raising Awareness among youth on Labour Rights, Gender and Career Development - - - - - - - - 04
Advocacy and Campaign
(i) Advocate Pradeshiya Sabha members on the Inclusion of Plantation Settlement in the
Jurisdiction of Local Government - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 05
(ii) Advocacy discussion on Delimitation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 06
(iii) Advocacy discussion on proposed Pension Bill - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 07
(iv) Signature Campaign - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 07
(v) Poster and Leaflet Campaigns to promote women’s political leadership - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 09
Decent Work
(i) Decent Work for Domestic Workers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 09
(ii) “12 n 12” Campaign - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10
Research and Publication
(i) Survey on the Pradeshiya Sabha Fund allocation for the Plantation Sector - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10
(ii) Unorganized Sector Workers' Rights - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12
(iii) Booklet on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12
First Women Trade Union in Sri Lanka - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12
Network
(i) CBO Federation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13
(ii) Working Women’s Front (WWF) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13
(iii) International Network
(a) Strategy meeting of Prakruthi on Corporate Social Responsibility - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14
(b) Post-ILC Conference on ILO Convention for domestic workers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14
(c) “Facing Flexibility”- International Federation of Worker's Education
Association Conference - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14
UTZ Tea Certification - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15
Capacity development of Community Development Forums (CDF) to link with and
receive Local Government service - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16
International Days
(i) International Tea Day - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16
(ii) International Women's Day - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17
Sponsoring and donation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17
Library - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17
Tea Plantation Workers' Museum and Archive - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18
Financial Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19
Preface
It is my pleasure and privilege to present you the Annual Report 2011 of
Institute of Social Development (ISD), a year that was marked with
significant progress on our path. The report brings forth the key activities
through which ISD was able to broaden its scope, make new links and
gain a number of qualitative experiences.
I have the obligation to express my appreciation for ISD staff for their
commitment and contribution to make success the planned activities.
Hence I would like to thank our donors for the support given to us to
implement the programmes. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude
to the key stakeholders; the tea plantation community members, trade
unionists, NGO members, the Peoples' Representatives, Executives of the
plantation companies, and the Officers of Local Government Institutions
for extending their cooperation and support to accomplish ISD's
activities to achieve its goal.
March, 2012.Kandy, Sri Lanka.
P. MuthulingamExecutive Director.
Organizational Profile
Institute of Social Development (ISD) was started in 1991 by a group of people from diverse
backgrounds. The main focus of the institution had been to uplift the lives of the minority tea
plantation community. The group identified that in order to bring sustainable changes for the tea
plantation community; a collective voice must be raised by the community. Based on this concept,
ISD started its activities of empowering the marginalized plantation community on their rights,
and capacitating them to win and safeguard their rights.
Introduction
In the last two decades, ISD actively involved itself in creating awareness among the plantation
youth and women on good governance and on human rights. Despite solution to the stateless issue
of the plantation community, and the community becoming eligible to enjoy the rights as citizens,
the community had not been identified with other citizens of the country. ISD identified that the
exclusion of the plantation worker settlements from the local government framework had become
the main obstacle to their right to development, and that it prevented the elected Local
Government representatives from extending the development services to the plantation
community.
Thus, ISD advocated the plantation community by capacitating them on rights of citizen and
advocated the policy makers to formulate policies to overcome this impasse.
In 2011 ISD specially focused on securing the rights of domestic workers and unorganized sector
workers.
Governance
ISD is legally registered under the Social Service Act in 1995 and later registered itself under the
Ministry of Social Services (Regd. L. 08608), adhering to the new provision of the government.
The governing body of ISD consists of a General Council and an Executive Committee. The General
Council meets annually and elects the Executive Council whose term expires after two years.
Generally, the Executive Committee meets thrice a year, but the number of meetings may increase
whenever necessary, to take necessary decisions, and to review organizational progress. The
Executive Director leads the organization on behalf of Executive Committee and is the Chairman of
Executive Committee on an ex-officio basis.
01
Resources and Cooperation
The year 2011 was the third and the final year of ISD’s major project on good governance. It was
supported by Bread for the World (BftW), which has been the main donor for ISD’s core activities
and the recurrent expenses.
Since 2010, Solidaridad has been supporting the UTZ Tea Certification project in the tea sector.
Moreover, the Christian Aid provided the seed money for plantation youth capacity building
project which was completed in 2011.
In 2011, ISD received an activity grant from Commonwealth Foundation for a Voter Education
project. In addition, ISD served as the resource provider for a project implemented by Care
International Sri Lanka. The Global Network, Prakruthi and International Federation for Workers
Education Associations sponsored by covering the conference costs, held overseas.
In the meantime, ISD would like to appreciate the generous support extended by the Fathima Trust
(Society for Rural Education and Development) and the Ichiputtur Panchayath, Arrakkonam,
India during the exposure visit made by a group of plantation women regarding voter education
and governance.
Board of Members
+ Mr. P. Muthulingam, Executive Director, Institute of Social Development
+ Prof. R. Sivakanesan, Head of Department of Bio-Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Peradeniya.
+ Mr. S. Muralitharan, National Advisor, GTZ education programme, Ministry of Education.
+ Prof. S. Senaviratne, Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, University of
Peradeniya.
+ Ms. Pulsara Liyanage, Senior Lecturer, University of Kelaniya.
+ Ms. Gowri Palaniyappan, a Social Activist, Researcher.
+ Ms. Nilmini Weerasinghe, an English Literature Teacher, Seewali Maha Vidyalaya,
Rathnapura.
02
Empowering Tea Plantation Community
(i) Empowering Tea Plantation Community on Good Governance.
From the inception, ISD is playing an intermediary
role towards strengthening the flow of government
services to the estate community. Although tea is one
of the main income generating industries in Sri Lanka,
still the estate community is in a very poor condition.
In the plantation community the gender equality is
less practiced, and the rights of the children are often
violated due to the ignorance prevailing in the
community. It has resulted in a number of social issues
in the community. In order to control this situation,
ISD initiated programmes to empower the plantation
community by guiding them towards an environment
conducive to creating a sustained society.
As the first step towards realizing this objective,
ISD created seventeen Community Based
Organizations (CBOs). In 2011, ISD facilitated
interface meetings between the CBOs, the
elected representatives and the Divisional
Secretariat (DS) officers of the plantation areas.
The community was able to acquire a fair
k n o w l e d g e a b o u t g e n d e r e q u a l i t y ,
participation, transparency, responsiveness and
accountability, and its significance for a fair
governing body. During the interface meetings,
the CBO leaders familiarized themselves with
the structure and activities of the LG
institutions.
ISD intends to keep to its mediator role until the CBOs have been able to sustain themselves by
linking with DS, and practice self-reliance in relation to good governance.
(ii) Empowering Women’s Groups by linking with Divisional Secretariat
Women’s groups of New Peacock(NP) and Kalugalla made an
exposure visit to the Uda Palatha DS in order to acquire
knowledge on DS’s services rendered towards the community
i.e. career development training and self employment courses.
Following the visit, DS trainers visited NP estate. The
plantation women were keen to improve their skills and to lift
the family of economic burdens by starting self employment
ventures. This is the first instance where DS Officers visited an
estate to provide a skill training.
03
Meanwhile, in certain areas women were encouraged to form separate women’s groups, and ISD
promoted such women’s groups to register in the Women’s Affairs Ministry.
(iii) Capacitating Women to take part in Local Governance.
ISD identified promoting female political leadership in LG
as one of the best ways to make their voice heard by the
decision and policy making authorities of the country. In
this context, ISD conducted discussions with women
candidates representing the plantation community in the
2011 LG election.
Although the women candidates contested from different
political parties, ISD promoted them to serve as a
supportive group for rights of the plantation community.
Through discussions, ISD demanded the government
to bring a legislation for 40% women representation.
Members of the Plantation Sector Social Forum (PSSF),
TU leaders, CBO members and the women candidates
participated in the discussions. Amidst serious social,
cultural and economic constraints, twenty two
plantation women from Central Province contested in
the LG election consequent to ISD’s lobby. ISD advised
the female candidates to make the society conscious
about the benefits that they would receive by
promoting women to the LG.
(iv) Raising Awareness among youth on Labour Rights, Gender and Career
Development.
The plantation youth are normally absorbed into the
labour market depending on their skill and
education level. They often enter as unskilled and
manual workers into the private sector, and thus
become vulnerable to gender discrimination often
due to lack of knowledge on labour laws. ISD capacitated a group of plantation youths on the
importance of legal documents, labour & gender
rights to mitigate the exploitation. The youth were
also instructed about the services available from the
DSs and supported them to obtain those services.
This also gave the youth an opportunity to work as a
team and to coordinate effectively with other formal
04
At the end of the project an evaluation was conducted, with following outcomes : The youth,
+ Realized the importance of obtaining legal
documents.+ Realized the importance of obtaining an
appointment letter or a document to prove
the employment.+ Understood the Labour laws which ensure
the rights of the private sector workers.+ Real ized the importance of sk i l l
development training provided by the
government.+ Acquired a sense of self-defense (especially
females) from sexual harassments and
abuses in the workplace.
The youth were enlightened on the necessity of legal documents and their importance in securing
an employment.
Advocacy and Campaign
( i ) Advocate Pradeshiya Sabha members on the Inclusion of Plantation Settlement in
the Jurisdiction of Local Government.
Since 2005, ISD had been lobbying for the
inclusion of plantation settlement in the LG
authority. During 2011, ISD advocated the PS
and DS members on the inclusion issue, and
promoted them to raise the matter further. One
of the achieved results was that elected members
raised the issue and the necessity to bring
amendments to section 33 of PS Act in their
meetings. It has created a space to take the matter
to the higher authorities. Mr. G. Jayawikkrama, Asst. Commissioner, of
LG Kandy highlighted that despite some
legislative barriers, the plantation community
could approach the Social Service Ministry or
DSs to obtain certain services. But due to
ignorance and lack of exposure, peoples’
approach and interaction was in a low level.
05
As a result of ISD’s continuous advocacy on inclusion of plantation settlement into the LG authority, one of the leading trade unions namely National Trade Union Federation in its 2nd congress, passed a resolution :
(ii) Advocacy discussion on Delimitation.
The government had announced changes in the LG system by introducing delimitation. Since
Independence, several delimitations had taken place. However, the plantation settlement was not
included in this process. Therefore, ISD organized an
advocacy workshop inviting the Parliament
representatives and PC members on the proposed Bill
on electoral changes and delimitation.
The advocacy discussion was held at Hotel Renuka,
Colombo and Members of Parliament namely, Mr. S.
Rajadurai, Mr. R. Yogarajan, Mr. P. Radhakrishnan and
Mr. P. Digambaram participated in the discussion. In
addition, the plantation sector civil society
organizations, NGOs and TUs were also present.
Participants agreed to propose an amendment to the PS
Bill which would enable estate settlements to be
declared as villages.
06
(iii) Advocacy discussion on proposed Pension Bill
The government introduced a pension bill for
the private sector employees by transferring
money from the EPF. The proposed bill was
opposed by the TU movement.
The plantation worker community is the largest
contributor to the Employees' Provident Fund
(EPF), and a large amount of money remaining
in the EPF, comes from them. But none of the
major plantation TUs has taken action to
enlighten the plantation workers on the
proposed EPF bill. Therefore, ISD organized a
discussion demanding the government to take
responses from the plantation working
community before initiating the pro-worker
Pension Bill.The members of plantation TUs and civil society organizations working on labour rights were
summoned. Mr. Lines Jayathilake, the President of United Labour Federation, addressed the
gathering as the guest speaker and Mr. P. Muthulingam, the Director of ISD, initiated the
discussion by citing the negative clauses of the proposed Bill. At the end of the discussion the
members of plantation TUs and civil society organizations jointly submitted a memorandum to the
government requesting to stop the proposed bill.
(iv) Signature Campaign
In 2011, ISD launched a signature campaign to
collect fifty thousand signatures to pressurize the LG
authorities and decision making bodies to bring the
plantation settlement under LG Authority. PSSF
m e m b e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s , T U s a n d N G O
representatives coordinated with the community
members and the CBO members to collect the
signatures.
ISD submitted the signature forms and a memorandum
to the Panwila, Ganga Ihala Korale, Ambagamuwa,
Pasbage Korale, and Udapalatha DSs and Nuwaraeliya
and Kandy District Secretariats.
07
The key objectives of the signature campaign was to motivate the plantation community to
demand the government to bring the plantation settlement under the LG authority.
The memorandum :
08
(v) Poster and Leaflet Campaigns to promote women’s political leadership.
In order to promote plantation women’s political leadership, ISD planned a strategy to increase
women's political participation in the LG elections. Hence, poster and leaflet campaigns were
launched to pressure plantation political parties to accommodate more women candidates to the
2011 LG election. By distributing wall-hanging posters and leaflets, ISD, intended to encourage the
plantation women to apply for the LG election contest. The campaign was launched through PSSF
member organizations.
Decent Work
(i) Decent Work for Domestic Workers
Since 2011, ISD specially campaigns for the rights of the domestic workers in Sri Lanka. ISD, with
plantation TUs and civil society organizations submitted a joint recommendation for the domestic
workers’ convention. Following the ILO Blue report which was made, based on the responses
received from states, TUs and civil society
organizations; ISD organized a workshop in
May 2011.The “National workshop on ILO Blue report on
decent work for domestic workers and rights of
the unorganized sector workers”was organized
to enlighten the TUs and civil society
organizations to support the proposed ILO
Convention. Ms. Elizabeth Tang, the General
Secretary of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade
Union and Mr. Reynaldo Raising, the Executive
Director of LEARN Philippines participated in
the workshop.
Ms. Elizabeth addressed the gathering on the
adoption of the decent work concept to mobilize
the unorganized sector workers and the
necessity to demand the State to ratify the
convention. Mr. Raising in his speech explained
how the civil society of other countries dealt with
that situation. It was a great opportunity for the
local trade unionists and civil society leaders
because they deal with problems relating to Sri
Lankan domestic and unorganized sector
workers. ISD’s key objective of this workshop was to
capacitate the plantation sector TUs and civil
society members on ILO’s Blue report on decent
work for domestic workers, and the necessity to
create a law for the domestic workers.
09
(ii) “12 n 12” Campaign
In many countries, including Sri Lanka, domestic workers are not covered by the labour legislation
and social protection schemes. Many are denied the right to form or join TUs. As a result, ill-
treatment, exploitation, violence and physical and sexual abuse are frequent, and the perpetrators
often go unpunished.
In June 2011, ILO (International Labour
Organization) adopted the Convention 189 on
Domestic Workers. As the member organization
of Global Network, ISD in collaboration with
National Trade Union Federation, National
Workers’ Congress and ACTFORM launched
the “12 n 12” Campaign in Sri Lanka. Similar to
this campaign, the International Migrants Day
was observed on December 18th 2011 at the
Mahaveli Center, Colombo. The campaign
objective was to demand the Sri Lankan
government to ratify the Convention 189 ensuring the rights of migrant workers and treating them
as they do, the other workers under the labour legislation.
Research and Publication
(i) Survey on the Pradeshiya Sabha Fund allocation for the Plantation Sector.
In order to strengthen the campaign on inclusion
of plantation settlement under the LG, ISD
conducted a research on PS fund allocation for
the development of plantation settlement,
which started with a study to identify the issues
relating to the service delivery of the local
authorities to the plantation settlement. The
study was conducted by Mr. S. Vijesandiran, a
Senior Lecturer of the University of Peradeniya.
Initially the study covered Uda Palatha and
Nuwara Eliya PSs and later expanded to Panwila
PS. The study report consisted of a wide range of
consultations needed to be implemented at both
national and local level.
10
A review of the current situation of the local
governance and its legitimacy, with limited
operation had also been highlighted in the
report.
This survey was taken as a tool to understand the
disparities practiced by the PS between villages
and estates in the fund allocation. These PSs
were chosen because tea plantation community
is densely populated in those areas. Especially in
the case of Uda Palatha PS, it was dissolved in
2006 with the charge of allocating the
government funds to do a construction in a non-
governmental area, implying that the estate settlement is a non-governmental entity.
11
Mr. S. Vijesandiran pointed out several sections of the Pradeshiya Sabha Act 1987 which prevent
the estate community from receiving benefits from government development activities :
(ii) Unorganized Sector Workers’ Rights
In the year 2011, ISD focused on the rights of the unorganized sector workers in Sri Lanka. With the
increase of private sector ventures, the workforce also increased. However the private sector
workers are not organized under a TU, although there are several legal Acts covering these
workers. In order to enlighten these unorganized sector workers,
one thousand books were printed in Tamil language
including selected sections of Shop and Office
Employees Act. The handbook defined the categories
of workers governed by the Shop and Office Act; hours
of employment, holidays, employment of women and
persons below18 years of age, lighting and ventilation,
sanitary facilities and payment of wages and other
allowances.
A case was reported from Madulkelle where a shop
worker had gone through the book and demanded his
employer to pay EPF and ETF to the entire staff.
(iii) Booklet on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
ISD conducted a number of activities to make the TU
movement aware on CSR practices in the context of
labour rights. Hence, one thousand booklets were
printed in Tamil and distributed to the tea sector and
Free Industrial Zone civil society organizations in
order to capacitate them on the CSR and on the
safeguard of the rights of workers and the
environment.
The booklet contains an introductory note on CSR, the
responsibility of Sri Lankan companies, CSR and its
present situation with reference to ILO convention,
Human Rights and CSR, environmental issues and CSR, consumer rights and transparency.
The First Women's Trade Union in Sri Lanka
The Working Women's Front(WWF) which functioned since 1997 as a wing of Institute of Social
Development has registered itself as a trade union in Sri Lanka. With this, the long lasting
aspirations of the WWF members has been fulfilled. WWF is the first women's TU in Sri Lanka.
Taking into account of the working women who were neglected by the TUs, the registration of
WWF is a milestone in Sri Lankan history. WWF expects to serve the working women of the unorganized, organized and informal sector
workers with due concern for the labour rights of the women with simultaneously fighting for
their gender rights.
12
Network
(i) CBO Federation.
As a further step, ISD formed the “Plantation
S e c t o r C o m m u n i t y D e v e l o p m e n t
Organizations’ Federation” bringing all the
CBOs under one umbrella.
From each CBO, a male and a female Office
bearer are appointed to the federation. Its main
objective is to act as a pressure group to voice
their own problems and draw the attention of the
decision making, policy making bodies and
political parties of the country. Pooling
experiences and ideas is the secondary objective
of the federation.
(ii) Working Women’s Front. (WWF)
Under the Working Women’s Front, ISD initiated the “Voter Education for the plantation women
to promote governance and democracy” project, with the funding from Commonwealth
Foundation. The project directly focused on a group of plantation women of CBOs.
The group which participated in a residential workshop on voter education and the Sri Lankan
political system, had a five day field visit to Madras, India where they were capacitated on
women’s political representation in LG and the
Indian “Panchayath system”. The “Fathima
Trust” and Ichiputtur Panchayath, of
Arrakkonam, India, facilitated the participants
during their stay in Madras.
ISD hopes that this experience sharing would
provide a great opportunity for the plantation
women to understand the importance of
women’s participation in the political system of
the country. It would also boost the plantation
women’s representation in the Sri Lankan
political system.
13
In addition, WWF organized various events to
commemorate the International Women’s Day. In this
year too, WWF in collaboration with PSSF women’s
wing, celebrated the International Women's Day. People
from Nuwara-eliya, Hatton, Bogawanthalawa, Uda
Palatha and Kandy areas participated in a large
gathering organized at Hatton.
(iii) International Network
(a) Strategy meeting of Prakruthi on Corporate Social Responsibility
ISD participated in the conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and strategy meeting
of Prakruthi, in August 2011 in India. Prakruthi is a non-profit organization working in
India which supports the poor and the marginalized people in various sectors such as tea,
coffee, sugarcane, cotton and garment industries. It organized a programme to share
experience on Corporate Social Responsibility projects in practice, especially in the tea,
coffee and garment sectors.
(b) Post-ILC Conference on ILO Convention for domestic workers
thAt the 100 session of the International Labor Conference (ILC), the ILO Convention 189
Decent Work for Domestic Workers was adopted by the ILO member countries and
delegates. As the next step, the Convention must be ratified by a majority of the member-
countries of the ILO. The ratification of member-countries could be the beginning of the
enactment of national legislations for decent work for domestic workers across the
countries in the world. It must be carried out with the cooperation of the governments,
workers and employers. In this context, ISD participated in the post-ILC Regional
Conference organized by Global Network Asia in cooperation with other civil society
groups, TUs and domestic workers in Philippines.
(c) “Facing Flexibility”- International Federation of
Worker’s Education Association Conference
ISD participated at the 21st International
Federation of Workers’ Education Association
conference held in South Africa. The conference
focused on the contemporary issues and the
challenges faced by the workers in both the
formal and informal economies with special
emphasis on labour market flexibility and the role
of labour educators.
14
UTZ Tea Certification
In order to address the sustainability issue of the tea
plantation sector in Sri Lanka, ISD initiated UTZ
promotion programme in 2010. The Solidaridad of
Netherlands had been funding the activities for the last
two years, and it expects to continue its contribution for
the programme in steps. The UTZ certification
programme initiated its activities at Keppetipola Tea
Shakthi factory, capacitating 3045 Small tea Growers in
the Welimada and Bandarawela areas. With this
successful effort (certification of 3045 Small tea growers),
in 2011, ISD extended the UTZ Certification process to
privately owned and Regional Plantation Companies.
Keleniya Braemers of Maskeliya is a privately owned
Tea estate with high grown, black tea. The UTZ team at
ISD guided them to reach their goal in four months
time by giving necessary technical support to
implement the required standards to the factory and
garden. Keleniya Braemers received the UTZ
Certification creating very high demand for their black
tea under UTZ label. Simultaneously, ISD team
initiated work with two RPCs namely; Hayleys and
Green Field Bio Plantations. The Radella estate of
Hayleys was quick to get their certificate within a very
short period, and the Harrington Tea Estate of Green
Field Bio Plantations is in the process of fulfilling the
requirements for the certificate, and is expected to finalize it at the very beginning of year 2012.
Nine more estates have been identified for the UTZ Certification. The suggestions of National
Reference Group members, buyers and brokers were taken
into account in deciding on the next level of approach of the
UTZ Certification. In 2011, three exporters and a buyer
attached to Sri Lankan tea industry joined the UTZ
traceability process by
registering under the
chain of custody. ISD
gave more focus to the
CSR activities of the
plantations in the UTZ
Certificate process
and have a bottom to top approach to uplifting the life of the
tea plantation population in Sri Lanka.
15
Capacity development of Community Development Forums (CDF) to link with and receive
Local Government service
With a request from CARE International Sri Lanka, ISD acted as the resource provider for the
project “Capacity development of CDF to link with and
receive LG services”.
During the project the CDF members were capacitated on
LG functions and the exclusion of plantation settlements
from the purview of PS. The CDF members were
enlightened on how to obtain the services rendered by
Ministries i.e. Social Service Ministry, Women and Child
Affairs Ministry etc.
International Days
(i) International Tea Day
In collaboration with the Plantation Sector Social Forum (PSSF) ISD has been celebrating the
International Tea Day since 2005. In 2011, ISD
organized the 7th International Tea Day
symposium on plantation workers/community
development, at Hotel Hill Top, Kandy. It was
held in a grand scale with the participation of
TUs, civil society, parliament, WWF and CBO
members of the plantation community. In
addition to the above theme International Tea
Day lobbied for the theme of “living wage” from
t h e b e g i n n i n g o f I T D c e l e b r a t i o n s .
In the symposium, researchers and major
stakeholders of the tea industry namely; Mr. Roshan Rajadurai, the Deputy Chairman of Planters’
Association and Chief Executive Officer of Kahawatte Plantation, Mr. H. R. Arunashantha, the
Regional Manager, Tea Small Holders
Development Authority, Mr. Kurihara
Shunsuke, a Phd candidate of International
Graduate School of Social Sciences and Mr. Sunil
Bastian, a Social Researcher made their
presentations on various topics relating to the
present situation of the Sri Lankan tea industry.
This was followed by the International Tea Day
rally and demonstration on 18th December 2011
and a meeting at Hatton Municipal Council Hall.
16
(ii) International Women’s Day
The 2011 International Women’s Day was organized by
the women’s wing of ISD under the theme: “Ensure
equality for women in all decision making fora”. It was
regarded as an appropriate occasion to highlight the need
to draw proper attention towards promoting female
representation in LG and decision making forum.
By promoting women to contest in the LG election, ISD
expected to overcome the general gender biased attitudes
of the community.
Thus, it has given the
plantation women the courage and strength to come to the fore
against violations and violence.
At the end of the Day, a
resolution was passed through
the ISD network. A collection of
case studies of the vulnerable
women in the plantation,
garment and other sectors was
also launched on that day. The document came up with suggestions
of resolution to certain burning issues in these sectors. The IWD was
observed with a grand procession which paraded in Hatton city.
In addition, certain CBOs have voluntarily organized IWD
celebrations with the support of their community.
Sponsoring and donation
In 2011, ISD sponsored for “The Sound of Strings”, a cello and guitar concert organized by the
Sewalanka Foundation. The concert was held at Kandy Girls High School auditorium. Hundreds
of music lovers were present and enjoyed the concert.
Furthermore, ISD donated a laminating machine to the Panwila DS. The people of the area had to
undergo various difficulties due to the unavailability of a laminating machine. A function was
organized at the Panwila DS office as a gratitude to ISD.
Library
ISD maintains a library at its office premises for the benefit of its staff and other interested parties. It
contains hundreds of books relating to political, historical, economy, literature and development
studies in English, Tamil and Sinhala languages.
17
Tea Plantation Workers' Museum and Archive
In 2007, ISD opened Tea Plantation Workers’ Museum and Archive (which is first of its kind) in a
century old line room (Plantation workers dwelling) at Old Peacock Estate, Paradeka, Gampola.
With the end of the war, when Sri Lanka attracts a record
number of tourists, ISD has
launched a program to
promote and publicize the
museum, so that the local and
international tourists as well
as students can have an
understanding of the Hill
country Tea P lanta t ion
workers' culture and their
traditions. The museum has a
unique collection of artifacts,
cultural and ritual items,
household goods and appliances used by the early migrant
workers. The museum also has a historical photo gallery of the
historical setting of the plantation industry going back to the
beginning of coffee and tea era. It also takes the viewers far back
into the era in which the plantation workers first set their feet on
the soil of this country.
In 2011, ISD became a member of International Coalition Sites of Conscience, a worldwide network
of “Sites of Conscience”. ISD plans to promote the Plantation Workers' Museum and Archive as a
historic site dedicated to remembering the past struggles of the plantation community.
18
Financial Overview
19
20
21
22